


erase the goodbyes

by magicalmayhems



Series: don't look at your phone verse [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: Character Study, Feels, Gen, akane is guilty, akane tries to think about tea instead but it does not work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-10-29 00:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17797745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicalmayhems/pseuds/magicalmayhems
Summary: How could she be so blind?OR: akane, on blue, daisy and red and familial relationships.OR OR: akane's views on (a part of) chapter 15 in mgdlayp





	erase the goodbyes

Akane reads the news in the morning. 

She's made herself a cup of tea and is letting it sit while she checks her Twitter—Blue'd said she needed one, and she complied. It's helpful to know what people are talking about, so she taps on the Trending page. 

#whatthefuckoak is number one. She blinks, blinks again, and when that fails to change it she exits the app and reenters. 

There it sits, a simple hashtag. She logs out and logs back in, hands shaking. 

It sits there still. 

She taps it. There, people are spewing abuse at Samuel, some gleeful, some shocked and sad and hurt, and some angry. 

Akane's heart jumps up to her throat, pulse skittering, skittering—

Professor Oak neglected his grandchildren. Samuel Oak neglected his grandchildren. Samuel neglected Blue and Daisy. 

Samuel neglected Blue and Daisy. She stares at her phone, eyes wide. This can't be right. This can't. Who started such a foul rumor, and why does everyone believe it? Who would want such a thing to be known?

Her tea has gone cold. She keeps scrolling, desperate to find some kind of source. Her tea has gone cold. She needs to make herself more tea. She needs to find the person who started the rumors. 

She needs—

She needs control of herself. She needs understanding. These two conflicting needs war within her. While she's distracted, her shaking fingers open up Google and type in "saumel oak neglkect" 

* * *

When Blue was five, he was over at her house more often then not. He'd traipse in with Red, eyes bright and smile wide. 

She never quite had the heart to kick him out—and what was the harm in letting him stay for dinner, or for the night, really? Samuel lived right across the street and the lab was only two minutes away. 

It was fine to have him. She liked him—she was a mother to him as much as to Red, in those days—and he gave Red this permanent air of contentment. His lips were almost always curled into a little half grin at the corner of his mouth when they were together. 

"Hey, Akane!" Blue called laughingly, breezing into the house, followed by Red, who smiled gently at her when she glanced over. 

She sighed, trying to hide her smile. "Wash up, boys." She eyed their dirt-stained hands, and after a moment, added, "And don't forget to get under the fingernails!" 

Blue sighed over-dramatically. "Yes,  _mom_." He said, with the same air all little boys had when they were told to do something by an adult. 

"You're grounded." She returned flatly. He laughed again, gestured for her to lean down, and gave her a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. "Go on." She straightened, placing a warm hand on his tiny shoulder. 

Red, already coming out of the bathroom, glanced at him from under the cap, expression not-quite hidden. He was hungry and impatient, and if Blue didn't just wash his hands so they could eat, he'd—something. Akane didn't know her boy well enough to know everything about him, but she was certainly the closest to fluent. Or tied for the spot. 

Or second place. But that was okay. She knew her boy, and she knew he loved her. 

That was enough. 

* * *

She stares in horror at the tweet thread—the source of all this—and, more importantly, at the name on the top. 

Blue Oak. Verified profile Blue Oak. 

Her tea is cold. She needs more tea. 

She reboils the kettle, mind racing, heart reeling. She'd always regarded Samuel as someone good, someone kind. Perhaps a bit absent-minded, but everybody had their faults, and he was a world-renowned researcher to boot. 

But Blue claims he was neglectful. She doesn't know what to believe.

Tea. The kettle has boiled. She can focus on tea. She knows about tea. Pour hot water, first. Then, add the tea leaves. Milk—just a bit—and two spoons of—

Wait. 

That's Red's tea. She stares at it, defeated, and slowly starts to cry, falling to her knees in the middle of her kitchen, phone left forgotten on top of the table, spoon of sugar sitting in the mug. 

Has Samuel found out yet? What does he think of this? Is he as shattered as she is? 

Probably not, considering he knew that what he was doing was wrong but still did it anyway. What is he doing now? Ignoring the pain of Blue's disownment for favor of his research? Is he elbows deep in papers? Is he furiously typing on his computer?

Is he unaffected? A tiny corner of her mind wonders at that possibility. Does he just. Not care? Is that what it is? Does he only care for his work?

Does he only care about his image and reputation?

She gets up on shaky legs, collapsing onto the kitchen table and eyeing the cup of tea. 

If she doesn't know about tea, what does she know?

* * *

Akane always thought Daisy grew up awfully fast. One year she was seven, and then the next, she had the brains and maturity of a thirteen-year old. Unfortunately, that seemed to include the hormones.  

(But she never thought to question it, just assumed it was her grandfather's brains showing up early and not an indicator of something being off.) 

She hadn't had time to think on it very much, but at one point, she had a conversation that almost definitely should've been a huge red flag. 

Daisy'd been sitting on a ledge, those ones that the Trainers jumped off of, when Akane found her. Blue was with Samuel and neither of them knew that Daisy was missing. Akane didn't either until she noticed her. Just sitting there. 

"Daisy!" She said, surprise coloring her tone. Daisy turned to look at her and offered her a brief, polite smile. "What are you doing out here?"

"Dunno." Daisy said in a way that indicated that she knew exactly what it was she was doing. "Just wanted to be alone, I guess."

Akane's eyebrows rose. "In an area where you have to get through tall grass to get to?" She asked skeptically. 

Daisy's jaw set firmly. "Yes." She said. Her expression went dark when she continued, "I've been out farther before." 

"With Samuel!" She snapped, finally sitting down next to her. "Or me! You could've gotten hurt!" 

Daisy scowled, just a little. "I've already been hurt." 

What?! Akane scanned her quickly with her eyes. "Where?" She demanded. 

Daisy scoffed. "Not important." She said tartly, arms folding. "You couldn't do anything anyway." 

Akane frowned. "Young lady—" She started warningly. 

Daisy scoffed again. "Fine. If you must know, Grandpa took us out to Viridian forest and then promptly lost track of us. I had to herd Blue back because all he wanted to do was interact with all the Pokémon." She paused and then moved her foot so her sock fell down and exposed her ankle. "A Weedle shot Poison Sting at me."

"You need to go to Nurse Joy!" Akane gasped, eyes still on that ankle. 

"No I don't." Daisy said firmly. "I ate a berry to help with the poison and spritzed some Antidote on it." 

Protective mother instincts made her snap. "Doesn't matter! Just go!" 

"You know what," Daisy said furiously, "you're not the boss of me!" She swung herself upwards and jumped off the ledge, running back to Pallet. 

* * *

Remembering it now, she laughs a little. It's quiet and broken, because she can now tell that Daisy'd been talking about  _that_ all those years ago. 

She had it all wrong all this time, assuming that it wasn't all that big of a deal, just a bit of rebellion, but—

But it wasn't that. It was such a huge deal. Akane wishes, just for a moment, that she had a bigger vocabulary so she could encompass the size, but she'd gotten a degree in accounting, not in English or Journalism. 

She sighs and logs back into Twitter. Lo and behold, a slew of that hashtag. 

But wait. Wait. Is that Daisy's username? She scans the tweet quickly and sighs in relief at its contents. 

Wait. Daisy has a boyfriend? 

Well. Good for her, Akane supposes. She's still reeling. God, she needs to lie down. Or—or tea. 

Can she make tea? She can make Red's tea. Can she drink Red's tea? Uncertain. She gets up and rinses both the cup and the spoon, watching the dark-light liquid of the tea slosh around before she pours it out. 

She can't imagine doing that to anyone, let alone her own family. The idea of doing that to Red, or to his hypothetical children, makes her flinch. 

How could Samuel do this? He still has grandchildren, why would he just drive them away like that? 

There isn't much she wouldn't sacrifice to get Red back, but Samuel's forcing his grandchildren farther and farther away. 

She can't even remember what the tweet thread said. Her mood is probably too volatile to check again anyway. 

She misses Red. It's selfish to think, especially since both Blue and Daisy have something so big going on, but she does. It pulses in time with her heartbeat, this sudden sharp ache. 

Samuel is so stupid. She laughs again, hysterically, and ignores it when her laughter turns into crying. 

* * *

Red never cried much. It wasn't that he wasn't empathetic, Akane knew that, but he was more likely to be angry then to cry. 

A few months after his eighth birthday, Red came home crying. 

Akane's worry was immediate, especially since Blue wasn't with him, trying to offer what comfort he could. 

"Red?" She asked gently, drying her hands with her tea towel. "Oh, sweetheart. What's the matter?" She opened her arms, a little shocked when Red barreled into them like he hadn't since he was five years old. 

Red gave her a tearful look. 

"Where's Blue?" She asked. His look got tearier. He always tended to go fully non-verbal when upset. Oh. Were they fighting? She made sure to not make her voice accusatory when she asked, "Are you fighting?"

A nod. 

"Do you know why?" She continued, running her fingernails lightly over his scalp. 

A shake, as well as him tilting his head up like a Persian asking for pets. 

Wait, hold up. What? 

Red was always able to tell what it was he did to earn Blue's ire. To have him  _not_ was rare. She frowned when she suggested, "Well, maybe he's just having a bad day today. Give him time."

(She wasn't aware of it, but that would become his mantra for the next five years). 

 


End file.
